IRISH REPUBLICAN INFORMATION SERVICE (no. 15)
Teach Dáithí Ó Conaill, 223 Parnell Street, Dublin 1, Ireland
Phone: +353-1-872 9747; FAX: +353-1-872 9757; e-mail: saoirse@iol.ie
Date: 2 Bealtaine / May 2005
Internet resources maintained by SAOIRSE-Irish Freedom
http://saoirse.rr.nu
In this issue:
1. Belfast plaque unveiled
2. Former RUC man not acceptable candidate
3. RPAG meeting constructive
4. Loyalist jailed for life
5. Second inquest into 1976 dundalk killing
6. Macentee to investigate 26-County police inquiry into 1974 bombings
7. Memorial to The O’Rahilly
8. HMP Belmarsh bans anti-racist paper
1. BELFAST PLAQUE UNVEILED
THE unveiling of a plaque to mark the Centenary of Sinn Féin took place on Saturday April 16, 2005 at the Belfast office of Republican Sinn Féin.
On opening the proceedings at the unveiling Veteran Belfast Republican Leo Martin spoke from his heart - ” a Republican heart”.
He said that after the Fenian period of the struggle it was once again a case of starting over again, starting from scratch. 100 years ago when Sinn Féin was formed, the continuity of the struggle for the Republic was carried on.
“Today we are part of that unbroken struggle and because of what has been done in recent years we too are starting from scratch.
“I’m not ashamed; we aren’t ashamed to be part of that unbroken struggle. I am proud to be here today with true Republicans, but because we are part of the continuation we are called names, we are put down and are branded dissidents. All because we stayed true. Those who call us names, put us down and brand us dissidents haven’t the right to the name Republican.
“I’m also very proud to be here today with Billy McKee, a man who shows us all the real meaning of Irish Republicanism and whose very name is an inspiration to all who are faithful to the Republic.
“I first met Billy in jail and since then he has been an inspiration to me down all those years of struggle. In Bombay street in 1969, the split 69/70 and the battles of all those turbulent years that have followed to this day. To us Billy is Republicanism in the real sense. Billy has stayed true and because he has stayed faithful former Republicans have made him a target, have called him bad names, have written lies about him in papers and have even attacked him for his religious devotion. But look where those people, the Provos, who have gone down that road are now - they have sold out everything.”
Leo then asked Billy to unveil the Centenary Plaque.
Before unveiling the plaque Billy McKee said he was honoured to be at the Belfast office of Republican Sinn Féin and was delighted to be amongst faithful Republicans once again. Billy then unveiled the plaque which states (in Irish and English) that the plaque “WILL STAND AS TESTIMONY TO AN UNBROKEN STRUGGLE FOR AN ALL-IRELAND REPUBLIC THAT HAS YET TO BE REALISED”.
On ending the proceedings Leo Martin welcomed the Republicans who had travelled from all parts of Ireland and said “..we all know what has to be done in our own areas.
Leo concluded: “We are starting all over again and it will take time, but that’s alright. We will take our time and we will rebuild the Movement once again. Thank you all for coming today, you here are the faithful Republicans.”
2. FORMER RUC MAN NOT ACCEPTABLE CANDIDATE
IN A statement on May 1 Michael McGonigle, Republican Sinn Féin, Dungiven, Co. Derry said that Francis Brolly of Provisional Sinn Féin has said that Billy Leonard is a most suitable candidate for the British parliament in Westminster.
He said: “Whilst I am not surprised by such comments being made by this man, it is a sad day indeed when the only person they can find to contest the East Derry constituency is a former RUC man. He may well be a “most suitable” candidate for the Provisionals given the current direction of their movement, but he is in no way a fitting candidate for any Republican.
“No Republicans are standing for election in East Derry, and I call on all true Republicans in the constituency to either boycott the upcoming election or to spoil their vote. It is shameful for any so-called ‘Republican’ to vote for a former RUC man: once an RUC man, always an RUC man.”
3. RPAG MEETING CONSTRUCTIVE
IN A statement on May 1 Richard Walsh, PRO of the Republican Prisoners Action Group said that a public meeting held by the Republican Prisoners Action Group in Derry City on April 30 was attended by several organisations and individuals, including a significant number of former political prisoners (one of these a 1981 H-Block hunger striker).
He went on: “The current conditions affecting Republican POWs in Maghaberry were highlighted, and the legal situation was also outlined by our legal adviser.
“The floor was then opened to the public. Suggestions as to how the prisoners’ campaign could be progressed were discussed in detail. The RPAG feels that the contributions of the various interested parties were constructive, and we intend to hold further public meetings in other areas in the near future.”
4. LOYALIST JAILED FOR LIFE
A LOYALIST thug who murdered an “inoffensive, hard-working man” on his way to work was jailed for life and ordered to serve at least 13 years behind bars today.
Although earlier court hearings had heard that 22-year-old William Alan Hill attacked David Cupples because he thought he was Catholic, on April 26 Belfast Crown Court Judge Justice Weir told Hill that after almost two and a half years since the “appalling and utterly senseless” murder, “I still have no adequate explanation as to why you murdered David Cupples”.
He declared: “Perhaps the truth is that there is no explanation other than your own violent and ungoverned temper.”
The judge told Hill that in a “generous gesture that contrasted starkly with your despicable behaviour”, the Cupples family decided that 25-year-old David`s organs should be donated for transplant, “thereby saving the lives of two other people”.
David Cupples was on his way to work as a civilian kitchen porter at Girdwood British Army Barracks on December 22 2002 when Hill attacked him, repeatedly hitting him on the head with a brick and leaving him brain dead with multiple fractures to his skull.
Previous court hearings had heard that Johnny ‘Mad Dog’ Adair supporter Hill had spent the night drinking Red Bull in a UDA “shebeen” in the Shankill where he had an argument with his girlfriend before storming off towards the Landscape filling station where he met David Cupples, attacking him at nearby Cliftonpark Avenue.
After his life support machine was switched off, he died three days later on Christmas Day.
Judge Weir told Hill, from Southport Court, just off the Shankill Road in Belfast, that although he entered a “belated” guilty plea to the murder, “it is largely offset by your earlier determined attempts at concealment of your involvement”.
Three other men, including Hill’s younger brother Edward (20) of the same address and 22-year-olds Darren Paul from Lyndhurstview Avenue and Brian Dickson from Azamor Street, both Belfast, were released on three years probation after they admitted trying to help William Hill by obtaining and destroying the CCTV footage from the filling station and his clothes.
Describing the murder as a “brutal and sustained attack”, the judge told Hill: “David Cupples was an inoffensive, hard working man. He suffered from a neurological condition…which caused him to have a slight weakness and clumsiness affecting the left side of his body. He was certainly no match for you. Even so, you appear to have used a brick in this very violent attack.”
Finally, Judge Weir said he wanted to make clear that “unlike other sentences, the law is that there will be no remission or early release” before the minimum 13-year period has elapsed when Hill’s case will go
before the Life Sentence Review Commissioners who will decide when he will be released on licence.
5. SECOND INQUEST INTO 1976 DUNDALK KILLING
CAMPAIGNERS for the family of UDR murder victim Seamus Ludlow on April 27 welcomed news that a second inquest is to be held into his death.
The Dundalk forestry worker was shot dead in May 1976 and dumped in a lane near his home, allegedly by north Down loyalists from the Red Hand Commandos who were also allegedly connected to the UDR, although no one was ever convicted.
Séamus Ludlow’s family have been campaigning for a full public inquiry into his death amid concerns
about the failed joint Garda/RUC murder investigation. Louth County Coroner Ronan Maguire announced his intention to hold a preliminary inquest into the death in May after being asked to re-open the case by the 26-County Attorney-General.
Ludlow family solicitor James MacGuill said there were a number of issues to be addressed. “There are circumstances which led to him being abducted and there were also issues surrounding the political use of his death by the Garda in their failure to inform the family.
“There was also the issue surrounding the manner in which suspects were not fully investigated. It was better for people to think that the IRA had shot someone,” he said.
Initially, the family was told Republicans may have shot 47-year-old Séamus Ludlow, who was picked up on his way home from a bar near Dundalk, as an informer.
The RUC interviewed four men in relation to the killing but none were prosecuted. One of the interviewees allegedly claimed to have witnessed the event and identified the killers and their membership of both the British army UDR and a British-backed Loyalist death squad.
6. MacENTEE TO INVESTIGATE 26-COUNTY POLICE INQUIRY INTO 1974 BOMBINGS
THE 26-County Government has appointed a commission of investigation, the first of its kind, to examine unresolved questions concerning the Garda inquiry into the 1974 Dublin and Monaghan bombings.
Barrister Patrick MacEntee SC is the commission’s sole member and will be given six months to report to the 26-County premier Bertie Ahern on alleged inadequacies in that investigation.
This is the first commission of investigation established under legislation passed last year designed to introduce faster inquiries into matters of public concern.
The legislation came after criticism of tribunals for taking years to inquire into matters of public controversy and expending vast sums of money in legal bills. These new commissions have many of the powers of a full tribunal of inquiry but are expected to be much quicker as they will not generally carry out their proceedings in public. They are also expected to be much cheaper as teams of lawyers will generally not represent witnesses, as happens at tribunals.
The commission is being established in response to the recommendations of the Joint Leinster House Committee on Justice’s consideration of Justice Henry Barron’s report on the bombings.
Justice Barron had the advantage of conducting his report in private, but the disadvantage of not having the powers to compel witnesses and demand documentation enjoyed by tribunals.
The Leinster House committee, which examined his report, called for an inquiry into inadequacies in the Garda investigation. It also demanded an inquiry in Britain, but acknowledged that the failure of the British government to provide full documentation for the Irish inquiry made such a move unlikely. This commission has been asked to investigate:
Why the Garda investigation into the Dublin and Monaghan bombings was wound down;
Why gardaí did not follow up certain leads;
Why certain documentation went missing;
What that documentation was;
Whether the systems currently in place can prevent a recurrence of the disappearance of important documents.
This commission has the power to direct witnesses to attend and answer questions and to produce and disclose documents; to enter into premises to inspect and secure documents if it is reasonable and necessary to do so in the interests of the investigation; and to decide to hear a witness’s evidence in public. It is also a criminal offence to make a false statement or intentionally obstruct the commission.
However families of those killed in the 1974 Dublin and Monaghan bombings criticised the 26 County government’s decision to establish a Commission of Investigation into the atrocity, saying the move would shut them out of proceedings.
Justice for the Forgotten expressed disappointment at the move, saying relatives felt the commission would effectively bar them from proceedings.
Unlike the Tribunal of Inquiry relatives sought, the Commission of Investigation will be largely held in private to maximise speed and minimise legal bills.
“The families feel deeply suspicious. They feel they have been let down by the State. There can be no sense of ownership because the families are not being engaged. We feel we are being shut out of the process,” said group legal representative Greg O’Neill.
The terms of reference of the new commission took some by surprise last night, as they were far more extensive than predicted.
In addition to investigating why the police operation into the bombings was closed in 1974, the commission will also probe why gardaí failed to follow up several important leads.
The commission is also tasked to probe unaccounted-for garda files and documentation and the reasons the files went missing.
7. MEMORIAL TO THE O’RAHILLY
ON Thursday, April 28 a memorial was unveiled to The O’Rahilly, (Michael Joseph O’Rahilly from Kerry) in O’Rahilly Parade, the only leader of the Easter Rising of 1916 to die in action. He died on the last day of the Rising leading 12 volunteers from the GPO up Moore Street with the intention of setting up another garrison.
He was shot and wounded but managed to crawl into Moore Lane (now O’Rahilly Parade) where, before he bled to death, he wrote a short note to his wife. It is this note that is reproduced on the memorial which was unveiled by his daughter-in-law, Blathnaid Uí Rathaille.
The bronze and limestone memorial was sculpted by Shane Cullen. A great-grandson of The O’Rahilly, Mark Price spoke with pride of his famous ancestor and said that while The O’Rahilly was not as well known as Pearse and Connolly he had played a very significant part in the Rising and had been an early advocate of armed struggle. The O’Rahilly is credited with the saying “I helped to wind the clock, I came to hear it strike”.
He was only 41 when he was murdered and left behind his wife Nancy and five children.
It was The O’Rahilly who convened the meeting which formed the Irish Volunteers in Wynn’s Hotel, Dublin on November 11, 1913.
8. HMP BELMARSH BANS ANTI-RACIST NEWSPAPER
AT least two prisoners at Belmarsh high security prison in south London have been stopped from receiving the latest issue of the newspaper of the revolutionary communist group Fight Racism! Fight Imperialism! (FRFI) on the grounds — wait for it — that it is a racist publication!
Inigo Makazaga, who is a Basque political prisoner, and Kevin Nevers, have both been refused the paper and given empty envelopes, with the words ‘racial paper, needs to be returned to sender or destroyed under 10-day rule.
Larkin Publications, which produces FRFI has written to the prison protesting, as have the legal representatives for the prisoners. They have all pointed out that this decision is not only ridiculous, but also in contravention of the prisoners’ rights under Article 10 of the European Convention on Human Rights. It also contradicts a judgment by the Prisons Ombudsman in 2002 that followed another prison doing the same thing.
People are asked to protest about this by writing to the governor at:
HMP Belmarsh
Western Way
Thamesmead
LONDON
SE28 0EB
fax: 020 8331 4401
and the Director General of the Prison Service at:
Prison Service Headquarters
Cleland House
Page Street
LONDON
SW1P 4LN
prisons.dg@homeoffice.gsi.gov.uk
ENDS
